All funds,no development

Sonbhadra gets a lot of attention under govt schemes but stays backward

In 2010-11,several bunds and check dams were built in Jugail gram panchayat with Rs 1.31 crore from MNREGS funds. Since then,most of these have been washed away or developed large cracks. And many of those who worked on the construction are still waiting for their wages.

There was no benefit from MNREGA, says Ramesh Gujjar. We did not get our wages,our work was flattened. And of the many villagers who echo him,one chants: Man karega to karega,nahi to nahi karega,yahi hai MNREGA.

Here,MNREGS has neither created assets nor been a dependable source of jobs,its two objectives.

In the past two years,several inquiries have been conducted into the spending of MNREGS money in Chopan block,which Jugail is part of and which was the block with the highest spending in 2010-11. Former secretary rural development Manoj Kumar Singh,state-level monitor Vinod Shanker Chaubey and central monitors have all found anomalies.

In all,Rs 300 crore was spent in Sonbhadra,the maximum in any district in 2010-11. This is one of the districts that figured in Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Rameshs letter to Mayawati in which he spoke of embezzlement of MNREGS funds.

Sonbhadra is a backward,Naxal-affected district. Therefore,it gets funds from the Centre under its Backward Region Grant Funds,special funds meant for development in Naxal-hit areas,besides liberal funding under MNREGS.

Yet it remains backward,with roads the starkest example. Jugail is about 40km from the district headquarters,Robertsganj. A stretch about 10km was recently built under the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Sarak Yojana; the rest of the route is in such bad shape that it can hardly be called a road.

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Dominated by Scheduled Tribes and Castes,Sonbhadra had two Assembly seats in 2007, both reserved and both won by the BSP. Neither MLA Chandra Mani Prasad from Dudhi and Satya Narayan Jaisal from Robertsganj has been given the BSP ticket this time.

After delimitation,there are now four constituencies,Ghorawal and Obra in addition to Robertsganj and Dudhi,with the last one reserved. The SP,the BSP and the BJP have candidates in all four seats; the Congress candidate for Dudhi had his papers rejected during scrutiny and the party has since adopted an Independent.

Last time,the SCs and STs had voted for the BSP to stop violence and mistreatment under the Mulayam Singh Yadav government,says Nanku Ram at Mitapur. But this time,the SCs are divided. One group alleges that under the BSP regime,SCs too are victims of bias unless they belong to one particular caste. Nanku,who is Manjwar a sub-caste of SCs,shows a mark on his chest. Yadavs gave me this mark. They beat us up six years ago, he says. The present government says it is a government of Dalits,but it is only for one caste; even the police favour them.

At Chopan,Jogeshwar says,If a family of that caste had four sons,then all four would get benefits of schemes as if they represented different families. When we demanded the same,they said they are looking into it.

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Many SCs alo complain about denial of benefits under the Forest Rights Act. They say that they,like tribals,are equal owners of the land and live in similar conditions. The tribals,for their part,say they have to struggle to get these benefits.

Nanku Ram says he will vote for the kamal lotus this time. Apparently,the recognition of some sub-castes of SCs as STs in neighbouring Chhattisgarh,MP and Bihar has earned the BJP some goodwill. The BJP has been highlighting Chhattisgarhs rice-at-Rs-2-a-kg scheme.

This is also a district where supervising the election is a challenge. The terrain is hilly,villages and hamlets sparsely populated,far-flung and poorly connected. Already,there has been talk of certain candidates distributing money and liquor.